


Daring the Gods

by Alethia



Series: Future Imperfect [2]
Category: Star Trek: Discovery
Genre: Again, F/M, Fix-It, Season/Series 03, TOS too, Time Travel Fix-It, fixing ALL of it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-14 08:35:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28667844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alethia/pseuds/Alethia
Summary: Michael nodded, accessing the suit’s control system, keying in the date, time, and location, the one she’d memorized from Pike’s file. His heroic last stand.Once that was done, she shot Book a smirk. “See you in 1800 years.”
Relationships: Michael Burnham/Christopher Pike
Series: Future Imperfect [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2100978
Comments: 39
Kudos: 100





	Daring the Gods

**Author's Note:**

> Well, this was predictable. 
> 
> ...I'm just gonna go ahead and embrace that.

Michael tried to look disinterested as the Andorian courier studied the sliver of dilithium she offered. His clothes were better-made than the usual couriers she traded with, likely a reflection of the higher prices he commanded because of his quality goods. The energy regulator she needed sat among a few of his other wares, like an afterthought. To others, it probably was. For her, it was a _necessity_ , the last piece she needed to fix the suit. 

But she couldn't betray that to the Andorian. If he sensed her desperation, he'd raise the price and she didn't have any dilithium to spare. 

Michael was still finding her footing with the couriers' ways. From her standpoint, if you could help, you helped. Book had had to explain, time and again, that it didn't work like that. That couriers specialized in exploiting others; that if you offered to help you'd be seen as weak, which would guarantee others preyed upon you. The courier system was about maximizing profit. To fit in, you had to play the game. 

She still didn't fully understand that mentality. It seemed wildly counterproductive. But she had a lifetime of Vulcan training. She could keep her emotions off her face. 

The Andorian looked up to her dismissively. "You think I'll take _this_ for my last regulator?"

Michael eyed him steadily. "Better that than a regulator gathering dust." 

He snorted. "So you think."

Before she could respond, Book walked up, his pace indicating he had something important to convey. "Michael."

She shot him an impatient look, an air he'd advised her to adopt when they were with others. Treating people like they were tools was also something couriers respected. "I'm busy."

"I got a lead on that other thing you're looking for," he said, his eyes intense, telling her that he wasn't lying; he must have found a lead on a black box. 

Michael clocked the Andorian stiffening, seeing a sale slipping away. "Oh, really?" she said to Book, putting a bit of relish in her voice. 

The Andorian interjected. "Fine, I'll let you have it," he said, like he was doing _her_ the favor. 

"Excellent," Michael said smoothly, collecting the regulator and moving to join Book.

As the Andorian hurried away, Book raised an eyebrow. "I really did find a lead."

"I know."

He frowned like he was trying to figure her out. "You said finding those black boxes is everything. Your key to the Burn. Instead you wasted the last of our score on a piece for your bucket of bolts?"

"It's not a bucket of bolts. And it's the _final_ piece," she said, low, closing her fingers around the regulator, the cool metal fitting comfortably in her fist. Such a small thing, yet so elusive, nothing the replicators could make. It seemed that even in the future there were limits.

Book studied her more intently, like that had been some grand admission. Then he shook his head a little and smirked at her. "Wow, you must really want to get laid. You know we have people here for that, too, right?" 

Sudden _heat_ flushed through Michael. Book's curiosity about who she needed to collect had only grown over the two months she'd been here. He asked her about it incessantly. She always put him off, not wanting to get into it. 

Not wanting to get her hopes up.

Apparently he'd come up with a new theory. 

Michael sent him a withering look. "Of course you assume it's about sex," she needled him right back, knowing she couldn't show any weakness here. He was a courier, after all. 

He scoffed at her, turning and starting back toward the shipyards. "Sure, sure, deflect all you like. People only go to this much effort for _feelings_. I know you're not looking for family, so the only alternative is someone who must be god-level in the sack," he drawled. 

More heat flushed through her at that idea, a dynamic she and Pike had never even glanced at. No matter what...thoughts she might have had over the months they'd served together. 

But no. It wasn't about that. 

"There's also justice," she said, tart. 

Book made a dismissive noise. "Yeah, you _definitely_ spent our last dilithium on an abstract philosophical concept," he mocked, shooting her a _bullshit_ look before striding ahead as the ship materialized at his command. 

Michael's stride hitched, something hot coiling through her gut. But she ignored it, following Book. This wasn't about _her_. 

She was doing this for Pike.

***

Michael snapped the regulator into the suit's control unit, stepping back as it powered on, easy, like it hadn't traveled nine hundred years plus two months in a storage closet. 

It looked...ready. 

She activated her new enhancements, watching as the nanobots instantly constructed a pod tethered to the suit. She didn't have Pike's genetic signature, so this was the best she could do. One thing she did know for sure: she was keeping this tethered to the suit. 

As it always did, Michael's mind strayed to the _Discovery_ , wondering where it was. _When_ it was. They still had seen no sign of it, Sahil updating her regularly, always reporting the same: no news. It plagued her, the horror that she might never see her friends again. 

She wasn't going to make the same mistake twice. 

Michael felt Book approach, his energy contemplative. For all his needling, he did find the suit fascinating. She looked over at him with a small smile, appreciative. It would have been impossible to do this without him, certainly not this quickly. He talked a good game about couriers exploiting others, but she could see the truth. 

"Thank you," she said, voice quiet. 

Typically, he waved it away like it was nothing. "Ah, you did most of the work."

Michael inclined her head, but still. "Without your guidance, I'd have been lost here. I can never thank you enough."

"Hey, none of that now. We have a deal. This is all self-interest, I'll have you know," he said with a smile, hardly a lie, but hardly the truth, either. He wanted the dilithium she'd promised him, even if he probably would have helped anyway. People had multitudes, she well knew. 

"Yes, you're the epitome of the heartless courier."

Book laughed, inclining his head. "So you going then?" he asked, studying the suit, nakedly curious to see how it worked. Book liked to figure out how things worked. 

Michael shook her head. "It's probably best if we land somewhere out of the way. I'll set an anchor point and hopefully return in the same moment I left."

He snapped his fingers at her. "Yeah, about that. I'm not waiting around for you like you're doing with your friends. Just to be clear. A day, tops."

"How magnanimous of you," she said, smiling to soften it. "Like I said, we should return in the same moment I left. It won't be a problem."

Book scoffed. "Now you're just daring the gods."

"Then it's a good thing I don't have any sort of faith to speak of."

Book looked at her oddly for a moment. "So you say." Then he headed for the door. "I'll find us a lucky planet."

***

It turned out to be desolate and isolated, ensconced in a star system full of nebulae, the interference of which would mask their signature on the off chance anyone got curious. When Michael stepped out of the ship, already wearing the suit, her feet sunk into some kind of pale blue clay. All she could think was how it reminded her of Pike's eyes. 

Book followed her out, taking her in, like he wasn't quite sure of this now that they were here. "All right?"

Michael nodded, accessing the suit's control system, keying in the date, time, and location, the one she'd memorized from Pike's file. His heroic last stand. 

Once that was done, she shot Book a smirk. "See you in 1800 years."

With that, she was off. 

***

Unlike her first trip through time, her second went smoothly. Michael knew how to guide herself through the temporal bridge. Her entrance to the _USS Republic_ was controlled, right next to the warp core, the baffle plate already close to cracking. 

But she'd prepared for this. Michael used the suit to shoot an energy beam at the baffle plate, patching the crack. It was only a temporary fix, but it would give her a few minutes. 

Just as she was setting down on the deck, Pike came rushing around the archway, into the core enclave that concealed her from any onlookers. 

Michael stared at him as she disengaged the suit, moving toward him until she was within arm's length, cataloguing all the changes. A few more gray hairs, maybe. A new uniform, befitting the fleet captain. She wondered if his eyes would crinkle more at the corners when he smiled. 

She wanted to see that. 

Pike wasn't smiling now, staring at her in wonder, taking in her hair—longer now—her very presence. "...Michael?" he asked, as if his eyes might not be working right. 

Out in Engineering proper, the blast doors slammed shut with a resounding _boom_. They wouldn't open again until the radiation had cleared. 

"Captain," she greeted, formal, even as something trembled in her voice, wholly outside her control. "It's been a while."

He blinked at her, visibly shaking himself out of his surprise. "What are you—this isn't how it goes," he said, something defiant flaring in his expression. "I saw the future. You weren't here."

Surprise swept through Michael. She didn't think he'd—wasn't he glad to see her?

She dismissed that thought. It wasn't even near the point. "You saw _a_ future," she corrected. 

Stubbornness leaked into his expression. "No, _the_ future. It was the price of the crystal. Tenavik was very clear." He shook his head. "You can't be here."

Michael gestured to herself. "I think we're beyond that now."

Now something new entered his expression, almost...resentful? "What are you doing, Michael? It _worked_. You sent the signals; we saved the future. Why are you here?"

She blinked, not expecting him to push back. But then she realized her mistake. Of course he'd get stubborn about it. He thought he was living out his end of the deal. In his mind, she was interfering. 

Michael lifted her chin. "I'm here for you."

"You're meddling in the timeline," he accused. 

"Only a little." 

"A little—" he broke off, incredulous. "Michael, my fate was the deal. Changing that—do you know what the repercussions could be?"

Michael's eyes narrowed. She could be stubborn, too. "I touched the crystal. Did you know that?"

It stilled him, surprise flitting across his face. "No."

"It showed me a future where Leland took the bridge and killed us all. Did that happen?" she challenged. 

Pike's eyes flashed. "No."

"Exactly. Spock and I figured out that the crystal showed me a future so that I could change it. And I did." She shook her head. "Whatever deal you made—with Tenavik, was it?—it's not set in stone."

He shook his head, helpless. "That's an assumption."

"One I lived out," she shot back, fierce. "He was testing you. He told you the future was unchangeable to see who you really were. Because only a man who would accept that sacrifice was worthy of taking the crystal. Anyone of lesser integrity would have turned tail and run."

Michael saw it land in his eyes, the first moment of doubt. "You don't know that for sure," he said.

She inclined her head. She couldn't argue that and she wouldn't try. "Certainty is a luxury that few have. But here's what I _do_ know: you deserve _better_ than this. Better than being trapped inside your own mind for the rest of your life. After everything you've done for everyone else, that is not a just fate. It's not _right_."

For an aching moment, _endless_ pain swamped him, Michael sucking in a breath at the sight. But then it was gone, Pike getting control of himself. He frowned, like he needed to understand. "So what? You came back to rescue me? To whisk me away?"

Michael nodded, once. "The Captain Pike of this time disappears in a core meltdown, a hero to the end. You come with me to the future. To _live_. And the timeline stays intact."

Pike took her in for a breathless moment, like he wanted to memorize it. Alarms started ringing in the back of Michael's mind, but before she could figure out why—

He shook his head, almost mournful. "I appreciate the sentiment, Michael, truly. But there is no justice in this life, you know that. And what you're suggesting is too big a risk."

Michael blinked as his resolve registered. He seemed...sure. Her heart _pulsed_ at the thought that he might actually refuse. That his stubbornness might actually win the day. 

He might not come. 

"It's _not_ too big a risk! The future needs you," she insisted, hearing the desperate edge to her voice, the pressure inside her chest expanding, making it hard to breathe. 

"The future was never meant to have me," he said, soft, like he was stating a fact.

Something _cracked_ inside Michael, panic starting to escape from the careful box she kept it in. "You don't know that!"

He just nodded, gentle. _Certain_. "I do."

The computer blared out an alarm then: "Warning. Core rupture imminent."

Pike looked to her, something aching in his eyes. "You should go." 

Michael glared at him. "Not without you," she said, fierce. 

Pike smiled at her, one of the small ones, and Michael suddenly realized she'd been _desperate_ to see it again. To feel that warmth from him. "Thank you, Michael. The fact that you thought to come here—"

Her gut dropped out. "No. _No_. This is not goodbye."

Pike's eyes roamed over her face, like he was committing this moment to memory. "It makes it all worth it. To know the future is secure. To know that you're okay."

Tears welled in her eyes, blurring her vision. "I'm not okay! Don't you get that?" she finally cried, stepping forward and shoving at his chest, trying to _make_ him understand. " _I need you_ ," she admitted on a rush, tears escaping, her heartbeat thundering in her ears. 

Pike stilled, catching her arms, steadying her. "...what?"

Michael swallowed against her suddenly-dry throat, her fingers tingling where she touched him, even through his uniform. She tried to find the words, the perfect words that would convince him. But they were gone, forgotten amidst the turmoil swirling within her. "I need you," she said again, voice shaking. "I'm all alone. The Federation—it's gone, in tatters. It's just a legend. Everything is _wrong_." She took a shuddering breath and _squeezed_ his arms. "I need you," she repeated again, softer, feeling the bone-deep truth of it, this thing she'd been avoiding admitting, even to herself. 

She needed him. 

Pike stared at her, something flickering in his eyes. "But...the _Discovery_..."

Her eyes stung again at the reminder, all her friends, lost somewhere. "It hasn't shown up yet. We got separated. I don't know when— _if_ it will." She cleared her throat, trying to regain some control, a headache pounding. "I have a plan. I'm going to rebuild the Federation. But I need you—I need your help." 

Pike just stared at her, expression blank. 

" _Please_ ," she said, her voice breaking on that simple word. 

Something _shattered_ in his expression. Pike took a heaving breath, then visibly swallowed, gathering himself. He squeezed her arms back. "All right," he finally said, like even he couldn't believe it. 

Michael startled, hope _leaping_ within her. "All right? You'll come with me?" she asked, just to be sure. 

He nodded slowly. "Whatever you need from me, Michael. Always," he said, his expression betraying that it had cost him something to say. Something Michael didn't understand. 

The computer blared another alarm: "Warning. Core rupture in thirty seconds."

Michael shoved her confusion aside. She could consider Pike later. For now, they needed to go. 

She stepped back to the suit, hitting the control screen and activating the pod. It formed beside the suit, Pike's eyes widening as he took it in. He looked to her, clearly awed by the tech. 

"The future," she reminded, nodding him on. "Get in."

He stepped into the pod, Michael watching as it sealed behind him, his eyes steady on hers until they were covered by the gray tritanium. Something about that look shook her. 

She ignored it, stepping into the suit, fingers flying over the controls. She made sure the tether to the pod was intact as she opened the portal, the suit lifting them toward it. As she went—

Another beam flared from the suit, hitting the baffle plate right at the crack, splitting it further. And as she heard the blare of the emergency alarms—

The portal swallowed them whole. 

***

Landing the second time also went smoother, though not by much. Michael scrambled out of the suit, gasping, the pain lancing through her speaking to at least two cracked ribs. Maybe more. 

But she couldn't think about that right now. She stumbled to the pod, smoking beside the suit, half buried in the blue clay. She hit its control—

And it slid open, Pike sucking in a breath, blinking at her owlishly. "Ow," he said, short. 

Michael laughed and fell to her knees, reaching a hand out for him. 

Pike took it, her skin tingling where they touched, both of them groaning as he pulled free of the pod and slumped beside her, backs propped against the pod. For a moment they just panted, together. Michael could feel his warmth next to her, staring out at the purple sky, a sense of rightness slamming down on her, even with the pain radiating from her abdomen. 

Her plan _worked_. 

"So this is what all the fuss was about?" Book's voice called. 

Michael looked over, feeling Pike do the same, both of them clocking Book nearby, waiting like it was no big thing. He took them in with an unimpressed tilt to his head. Behind him sat his ship, the only thing interrupting the endless expanse of blue clay. 

"Gotta say, Burnham, he doesn't look like much."

Michael huffed a laugh, one she regretted as her ribs made themselves known. She slowly stood, Pike following suit. "I look forward to you eating those words." She gestured from Book to Pike and back again. "Captain Christopher Pike, meet Cleveland Booker. Our ride."

Pike nodded to him, a little subdued, but the corners of his lips quirked. "Thanks for picking us up."

"I'm just satisfying my curiosity," Book said, light. "She wouldn't tell me a thing about you."

Michael shot Pike a dry look. "Don't listen to him."

"No, really, it's all self-interest over here. I'm a curious person, you know. It's one of my flaws."

Pike tilted his head, a shadow in his eyes, but you wouldn't know it if you didn't know him. "Not a bad flaw to have."

Book tapped his chin. "Oh, I think I like this one. He has _manners_."

Michael just rolled her eyes at him. Then she refocused on Pike, wondering at the energy shift she sensed in him. She didn't understand it. 

Still, some things needed to be marked. "Welcome to the 32nd Century, Captain Pike," she said, soft.

Pike's eyes flickered as he met her gaze. "Not the end of the day I had imagined," he admitted, equally soft. 

She leaned in a little. "Hopefully a better one," she said with a tiny smile. 

Pike looked away, taking in the desolate wasteland. "Is the 32nd Century all like this?" 

Michael swallowed against his dodge, a whisper of worry slipping through her.

Book gestured around casually. "What, this? Nah. Though given some of Michael's reactions, you might want to manage your expectations," he said, wry. "Now come on. We probably shouldn't stay on the planet where we've been engaging in very illegal temporal meddling." 

Pike nodded and followed his lead, falling in step with Book as they moved toward the ship, Michael a few steps behind, studying the tightness to Pike's shoulders. It worried her. But at the same time...he was _here_. 

He was here and everything would be all right. 

...wouldn't it?

Book looked to Pike as they walked, like an eager puppy. "Come on, you have to tell me. What's all this about seeing a man about a horse? Michael _refuses_ to explain."

And as they walked toward the ship, Pike laughed. 

***

Fin. Feedback is adored.


End file.
